Matthew West

1850 U.S. Federal Census, Brant, Erie Co., New York; NARA M432 roll 499, page 333a, dwelling 771, family 809, line 16; enumerated 21 Aug 1850. Household as enumerated: Matthew West 57, farmer, agriculture, real estate $2,000, b. New York; Hannah West 49, b. Vermont; Phebe J. West 29, b. New York; George Fenton 11. NOTE: the 1850 census records NO relationship column — relationship to head of household first appears in 1880. Ancestry's 'Inferred Spouse' label is an ALGORITHM, not the schedule. That Hannah was Matthew's WIFE rests on the Erie Co. probate file, not on this record.

Letters Testamentary on the will of MATHEW WEST, Erie Co. Surrogate's Court, Vol 0002-0003 (1832-1856), image 430 of 622. Read ON THE IMAGE at magnification by Claude, 3 Aug 2026 (Ancestry coll. 8800, image 005115675_00430, record 2229777). Verbatim: "...at the city of Buffalo in the county of Erie, on the 30th day of October ... one thousand eight hundred and fifty two ... the last Will and Testament of Mathew West late of the said county, deceased, was proved and is now approved and allowed of by us ... the administration of all and singular the goods, chattels and credits of the said deceased, and any way concerning his will, is granted unto Hannah West, Executrix in the said will named," she having taken the oath, with a true and perfect inventory required within three months. PROVES: Mathew West died TESTATE and was dead by 30 Oct 1852 — it BOUNDS the death, it does NOT date it. The instrument calls Hannah only "Executrix in the said will named"; that she was his WIDOW is stated separately in the creditor petition in the Erie probate file. VARIANCE RECORDED, NOT SMOOTHED: the surrogate's middle initial reads differently across three readings of this one image — "Charles A. Norton" (26 Jul), "Charles H. Norton" in the body and a signature reading "Ch. D. Norton" (3 Aug). Unresolved. The record-page OCR for this image is unusable (it renders as French noise); the image is not.

Citation for probate of the will of Matthew West, Erie Co. Surrogate's Court — issued 24 July 1852, reissued 18 Sept 1852, C. D. Norton, Surrogate; images 1558 and 1562. Read on the images 27 Jul 2026 (the OCR is badly garbled and DROPS THE RELATIONSHIP WORDS, which are the whole value of the document). Verbatim: "The People of the State of New-York, To Caroline Hunt and Jonathan Hunt her husband who reside in Erie County in the State of New York — Harriett Peck who resides in the Cattaraugus County..., and George Peck her husband — and Joseph West, Dennis West & Phebe Jane West, all of whom reside in the State of Wisconsin — and Anna Deniston and Alfred Deniston her husband, who reside in [Michigan] — Heirs and next of kin of Matthew West late of the town of Brandt in the county of Erie, deceased. Whereas Hannah West the Executrix named in the last Will and Testament of the said Matthew West deceased, has applied to the Surrogate..." CLOSES THE CHILD LIST AT SIX: Caroline (m. Jonathan Hunt), Harriett (m. George Peck), Joseph, Dennis, Phebe Jane, Anna (m. Alfred Deniston). INDEPENDENT CORROBORATION OF THE COUNT: Joseph's 1854 deed is docketed "Deed to 2/6" — two of six shares. Six heirs, six shares; the documents agree without being made to. WILBUR: a probate citation must name every heir and next of kin, and there is NO Wilbur in it — so either Wilbur IS the "Dennis West" of Wisconsin, or he was never Matthew's child. The tree holds no separate Dennis and Wilbur's middle name is Dennis. LIKELY, not proven. WRINKLE STATED PLAINLY: Wilbur b. 14 May 1832 would be 20 in Sept 1852 — a minor under NY law — and nothing in the papers read flags a special guardian for him. SARA: [1161] Sara West is NOT among the six heirs, but a "Sarah West" was served in the 1854 accounting. DO NOT DELETE HER on the strength of this record.

Creditor's petition of Jonathan Hunt of Eden, Erie Co. Surrogate's Court, image 1555; demand on a promissory note, sworn May 1854. Read on the image 27 Jul 2026. Recites that "Hannah West of the said town of Brant, WIDOW of said deceased, is the executrix of the last will and testament of said Mathew West deceased; that said will was admitted to probate on the 30th day of October 1852." THIS IS THE RECORD THAT MAKES HANNAH A WIFE RATHER THAN AN INFERENCE. The 1850 census records no relationships, and the Letters Testamentary call her only "Executrix in the said will named"; this petition states "widow" in the record itself. ALSO, from the proof of will 30 Oct 1852 (image 1560): the attesting witnesses were Horace Goodrich and STEPHEN WEST — the man living in George West's 1850 household. Under NY law a witness cannot be a beneficiary, which is consistent with Stephen being the testator's BROTHER rather than his son, and is the first documented interaction between Matthew's affairs and George West's household.